An audio reproduction apparatus typically has a volume controller for controlling the volume of sound output from a speaker. A user operates the volume controller to suitably control the volume of sound output from a speaker, etc.
However, a general volume controller can only achieve a certain volume control range (e.g., from about +6 dB to 12 dB), and simply operating the volume controller cannot meet demand of achieving a wider volume control range or audio quality having sufficient loudness.
In order to meet such demand, a loudness control device (auditory sense correction device) that corrects auditory sense with respect to the volume of an output sound has been proposed (refer to, e.g., Patent Document 1). The loudness control device divides an audio signal into audio signals of different frequency bands: low-frequency band, medium-frequency band, and high-frequency band and combines the audio signals of the respective frequency bands while changing the gains of low frequency, medium frequency, and high frequency in conjunction with the operation amount of a volume controller so as to output the combined audio signal from a speaker, etc., thereby achieving auditory sense correction.    Patent Document 1: JP-A-2000-197182 (pages 4 and 5, FIG. 1)